Door-closing device.



No. 831,290. PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1906.

v H. A. MORSE.

DOOR CLOSING DEVICE.

AEPLIOATION FILED MAR. 13, 1906.

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No. 831,290. 7 PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1906.

' H. A. MORSE.

DOOR CLOSING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13, 1906. v

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nected thereto an exhaust-pipe 25.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DOOR-CLOSING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

I Patented Sept. 18,1906.

Application filed March 13,1906- Serial No. 305.815.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN A; MORSE, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Malden, in the county of Mid dlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Closing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a door-closing device, and is particularly designed to close the doors of a fire-apparatus station by the passage out of the apparatus.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, which will be readily understood by reference to the description of the drawings and to the claims to be hereinafter given.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a pair of doors, showing this invention applied thereto, the flooring being shown cut in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the door-closing devices; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same, the cutting plane being on line 3 3 on Fig. 2.

Similar characters designate like parts throughout the several figures of the drawmgs.

In the drawings, 9 and 10 represent two doors to a fire-apparatus station or other building, the door 10 of which is provided with the usual strip 11, extending over upon the door 9 in a well-known manner. To

each of the doors 9 and 10 is secured a mem-' ber 12, to which is pivoted a connector 13, the opposite end of which is pivoted to a movable member or carriage 14, mounted upon and movable lengthwise of guides 15,

one end of each of which is secured to brackets 16, fastened in a fixed position to the door-frame 17. The opposite ends of said guides are secured to ears 18 of a cylindrical extension 19 of a hydraulic chamber 20 or 21. The chamber 20 is provided with an inletpipe 22, extending downwardly through the floor 23 of the building, and is provided with a three-way valve 24, which in turn has con- The valve-plug 26 has secured to its outer end an operating-arm 27, which operates through a given sector to cause the passage 28 to con nect the pipe 22 with the main inlet-pipe 29 or to cause the passage 28 to be shut off from the main inletpipe 29 and the passage 30 to connect with the pipe 22 while one portion of said passage 28 connects with the exhaustpipe 25, all as shown in Fig. 3.

The arm 27 is limited in its movement in either direction by suitable lugs 31 and 32. To the outer end of the arm 27 is secured a cord 33, passing over a pulley 34 and then upwardly through the floor 23 and provided at a point above said floor with a shoulder or stop 35 to prevent the end of said cord 33 from passing through an opening in said floor. The outer end of the cord is provided with a ring or other device 36, to which is secured a smaller cord 37. This smaller cord is intended to be secured tothe rear end of the apparatus housed within the building, and said cord is of sufiicient tensile strength to cause the arm 27 to be moved until it abuts against the stop 32 and is sufficiently weak to break when said arm contacts with said stop. By this operation the passage 28 is moved into a vertical position to cause the main inlet-pipe 29 to communicate with. the pipe 22 and permit fluid to pass therethrough into the chamber 20. When the fluid enters the chamber 20, it will act upon the rear of the plunger 38, mounted in the cylindrical extension 19 of said chamber, and cause it to be moved outwardly therefrom into the position shown in dotted lines at 39 in Fig. 3. It is obvious that if the door 9 had been opened the carriage 14 would be at the right of said figure and when the plunger moved to the left into the position shown in dotted lines it would have moved said carriage upon the guides 15 into the position in which it is shown in full lines in said Fig. 3 and have caused the closing of the doors. is provided with a smaller branch pipe 40, communicating with the other valve-chamber 21, thereby causing the same operation to be performed upon the door 10 as is performed upon the door 9 by the other closing device, with the exception that the door 10 is closed more slowly, owing to the pipe 40 per mitting the passage of a smaller quantity of the fluid. The doors 9 and 10 are mounted upon any well known spring hinges 41, adapted to open the doors when unlocked, and may be provided with any suitable spring-lock 42, which is adapted to operate when the hydraulic closing and locking devices are not in operation.

A cord 43, secured to the end of the arm 27, extends over pulleys 44 45 and is provided with a ring 46, supported on any suitable hook or other member 47. This cord is for the purpose of returning the valve-plug 26 to its normal position, as shown in Fig. 3,

The pipe 22' with communication through the plug 26 made between the pipes 22 and and the inlet-pipe 29 shut off.

The normal position of the apparatus is as shown in the drawings, the doors 9 10 being capable of openin and closing without 0 erating upon the hydraulic devices. hen the apparatus is in the house, however, the cord 37 is secured to the rear end thereof, and when the driver mounts his seat and is ready to start he unlocks in the usual manner the ordinary lock 42, and the doors fly open upon the hinges 41, causing the carriages 14 to move along the guides 15 to the opposite end of said guides and enter the path of the pluners 38. The driver of the apparatus starts om the building as soon as the doors are open, and in doing so the cord 33 is pulled, moving the arm 27 to its opposite position and opening the valve 24, thereby permitting the fluid from the main inlet-pipe to pass through the pipes 22 40 into the chambers 20 21 and cause the plunger 38 to move along the cylindrical extensions 19 against the movable member 14 and shut the doors 9 10. This hydraulic pressure would be sufficient to securely holdthe doors in closed position even without the ordinary .lock 42. Before the apparatus can enter the building it will be necessary for some one to enter'a side door and operate the valve by pulling upon the cord 43 to return the arm 27 into its normal position and allow the fluid contained within the chambers 20 21 to exhaust through the pipe 25. The doors may then be opened and closed at will without interfering with the hydraulic closing devices until the apparatus is ready to leave the building again, when the operation can be repeated, if a new cord 37 has been in the meantime secured to the rear of the apparatus. If desired, the cord 37 may be attached to the apparatus by means of any ordinary slip-ring, thereby dispensing with the necessity of breaking the cord, as has been heretofore described. It is obvious that with devices of this nature the doors may be securely locked automatically by the apparatus itself without delaying any of the members of the company in stopping ,to close the doors or de ending upon the good nature of citizens w 0 might be in the vicinity at the time to perform this duty.

It is believed that the operation of the invention will be thoroughly understood without any further description.

I claim 1. The combination with a door, of an hydraulic closing device therefor, a pipe leading thereto, a valve in said pipe, and means detachably secured to a moving carriage for operating said valve.

2. The combinationwith a door, of an hydraulic chamber, a cylindrical extension therefrom, a plunger therein, means interposed between said plunger and door to cause posed between said plunier and door to cause the closing of the latter y the movement of the former, a pipe leading to said chamber, a

valve therein, and means for operating said valve.

4. The combination with a door, of an hydraulic chamber, a cylindrical extension therefrom, a plunger therein, means interposed between said plun er and door to cause the closing of the latter y the movement of the former, a pipe leading to said chamber, a

valve therein, and means detachably secured.

to a moving carriage for operating said valve.

5. The combination with a door, of an hydraulic chamber, a cylindrical extension therefrom, a plunger therein, means interposed between said plunger and door to cause the closing of the latter by the movement of the former, a pipe leading to said chamber, a valve therein, an exhaust from said valve, means detachably secured to a moving carriage for operating said valve to admit fluid to said chamber, and a manually-operated device for operating said valve to exhaust the fluid from said chamber.

6. The combination with a door, of an hydraulic chamber, a cylindrical extension therefrom, guides secured thereto, a member movable thereon, a connector between said member and said door, a plunger in said cylinder adapted in its movement to operate said member to close the door, and means for controlling the admission of fluid to said chamber.

7. The combination with a door, of an hydraulic chamber, a cylindrical extension therefrom, guides secured thereto, a member movable thereon, a connector between said member and said door, a plunger in said cylinder adapted in its movement to operate said member to close the door, a pipe leading to'said chamber, a three-way valve'therein, and means for operating said valve.

8. The combination with a pair of doors, of a guided member secured to each of said doors, an hydraulic device disconnected from each of said members but adapted to act thereon to close the door when fluid is admitted thereto, a pipe leading to one of said devices, a branch pipe leading to the other device, a valve in the main pipe, and means for operating said valve.

Signed byme at Boston, this 8th day of March, 1906.

HERMAN A. MORSE.

Massachusetts,

Witnesses:

WALTER E. LOMBARD, EDNA O. CLEVELAND. 

